Egoy3k:Bike cops and segway cops are both a thing I fail to see how skateboard cop is any different.

Bikes and Segways both have an advantage that makes using them actually work. I don't see any advantage here.

Except as an outreach thing. If it helps the police connect with the kids at the park who might distrust the cops, that's one thing. With the rise in municipal skate parks, it's not a bad idea to have the police that are patrolling them be people who actually know what the people they are interacting with are doing, how they think, what they like, stuff like that. I'll give him credit for that...

Otherwise, the disadvantages to a cop riding around on a skateboard are huge in comparison to other forms of transportation. Hell, even walking. Maybe one more time in his life will he be able to use his board to effectively catch someone(As in his motorcycle story), but some cherry pits on the ground will put the brakes on his pursuit rather effectively.

There were at least as many dirty violent cops back then as there are now, but they were far less likely to ever be caught, put on the 6-o'clock news, or sued by the ACLU. They could rape and murder freely, as long as they restricted themselves to the "undesirable types". Nobody else knew about what was going on or wanted to.

In a lot of ways what seems like rampant corruption and violence is the result of a golden age of openness, accountability, and widespread media coverage of police abuses of power.

Firethorn:Egoy3k: Bike cops and segway cops are both a thing I fail to see how skateboard cop is any different.

Bike cops are faster than on foot and can go more areas than a car. Segway cops can chase your ass without getting tired(until they tire their arms out with the beating they brought with them).

Over the long haul is skateboarding faster/easier than just running?

Also, Segway cops are a good 6" or so above the crowd, I've seen them be quite effective in situations where there are thousands of people hanging out(Like 4th of July), and they don't have as big of a footprint as a bike.

Bike cops, on the other hand, can go faster than the Segway, and while they aren't quite as high above the crowd, they can still stand on the pedals to see over the crowd. Just like mounted police, bike and Segway cops are actually a good idea, despite the Snark Fest out there...

I used to know a cop who used to actually talk to the local kids rather than harass them. She also would give locals a break on traffic tickets and write up out of town drivers to make her quotas. Strange thing, when something happened guess who would have someone quietly pull her aside and whisper vital information in her ear.Some cops are smart and know how to gain the respect and sometimes even the trust of the less co-operative members of their communities. I suspect that this may be just such an officer.